The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Washington Stock Yards

The Washington DC Stockyards are full of swine.

The House, and Democrats of the Senate, for crafting legislation as non-kosher as an Oscar Mayer Wiener.

The Senate Republicans, for voting in a fowl manner and becoming chickens when the vote came. (I'm looking at you, Arlan Specter and the rest of your ilk.)

And for America? We're going to be chewing the cud on this bill for generations to come. Thank you Mr. Obama for your change and the consequences my generation and my kids are going to be paying for this.

7 comments:

I believe there's only 3 Senate Republicans who deserve the category. Specter and two other Senators, Snow I think one is and I forget the other. Even McCain surprised me by voting the right way this time.

Your partisan comments are ridiculous. Do you understand that rate at which jobs are being slashed? Do you understand that the banks are losing their net-cap requirements and cannot lend? Do you understand that a stimulus plan is a spending plan...and there are tax credits in the plan for alternative fuel projects.

The economy is stagnate. And there is no private equity to stimulate it. Unless you like the total economic collapse, I find it naive of you to criticize this bill.

Anonymous, your comments are frightening to say the least. Like most people it seems you are under the misconception that this money is going to banks (or that they need it). The truth is that the majority of the money is aimed at stimulating industries like construction, automotive, and health care. For construction the government has long been their biggest customer and the stipulations involved are nothing new to them.

GM, on the other hand, is in quite a different predicament. They are is desperate need of good business practices. They need to focus on where they are strong and cut the poorest performing plants that make the least desirable models. Unfortunately they are now required to keep plants open depending on what district they fall in.

We had a choice. The death of a company the size of GM would be painful and that pain would be severe but temporary. They sell a product people like and they have billions in fixed assets. Even in a worst case scenario they get bought out for pennies on the dollar by investors that will revitalize the company with better business practices.

The board of directors at GM made mistakes that have lead them to the position they are now in. By giving them money we are forcing those people to share control of the GM with the government. Instead of a system where competition makes businesses stronger we are entering an era where the government makes businesses mediocre (at best).

We keep looking for fast answers to our situation and there aren't any. The stimulus plans are band aids for open wounds. Extraordinarily expensive band aids. And the price isn't just money if it leaves a legacy of government intervention into private industry.

As another aside, it amazes me the government is making the same mistakes made in the 1930s, which actually prolonged the Great Depression. We're not in a second Great Depression yet, but with this kind of nonsense, give it time.

Snickering, good to see you. You're correct in the 3 senators, and even the Mac stayed smart this time.

Joel, I didn't even think of a Cowpie line. loi. And as bad as the FDR New Deal was, this is so much larger it takes nearly biblical proportions in comparison. And that is so much the worse for the US.

While probably no one was entirely in agreement with everything President Bush signed into law that the largely Democrat Congress gave him, I think we need to realize that at least we had the liberty to disagree and sleep safely at night, knowing that the liberty to dissent was solid in the hands of the Republicans. I think that we will not have that measure of liberty under the Democrats, as they prove over and over again that they are no friends of liberty, and intend no freedom to dissent their totalitarian philosophy. While we may disagree on various policies amongst our Republican brethren in private, let us at least consider the wisdom of not further endangering our own fates by self inflicted wounds in the public battleground that influence the votes of weaker minds.